Seriously Serious
by Damsel in Shining Armor
Summary: He confessed to her when they first met. He confessed to her years after. He confessed to her almost everyday. Her response was almost always positive... So why the heck was he still single? "I love you." "Love you too. So is Sasuke-kun taken or not?"


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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><p><em>Seriously Serious<em>

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><p><strong>Confession #1<strong>

It was love at first sight.

She was the most prettiest thing he ever laid eyes on. Her short pink hair looked so soft, shining under the sun's rays. Her green eyes, that oddly reminded him of his frog doll, literally glittered and sparkled whenever they moved. Her porcelain skin made her look so fragile, delicate, _girly_.

It was love at first sight. So it should come to no surprise that he blurted out an "I love you" when he first saw her.

She stared at him with wide - pretty and sparkling - eyes. "Wha-?"

"Sakura-chan!" a blonde girl's voice called out.

She even had a pretty name.

"The others are playing over at the sandbox, let's go-" she stopped when she caught sight of him. She frowned and tugged on Sakura's hand, "Come on! Don't hang around with boys! They have cooties!"

Sakura let herself be pulled away from him. He frowned as the two girls went out of sight. He'd have to ask Jiraiya if he did something wrong. The old man always said that if you say "I love you" to a maiden, they'd melt in your hands...

He looked down to his hands. He didn't want her to melt, so he guessed it was okay. He could think of something else to say the next time they met.

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><p><strong>Confession #2<strong>

"Have we met before?"

He stopped vandalizing his desk for a moment and looked up at the voice. "Of course! I was probably in your best dreams!" he exclaimed with a large grin.

She glared at him, her fists clenched in anger at his haughty personality. "Forget I asked," she remarked, turning around to leave.

"No, wait!" he said, grabbing out to hold her wrist. "You're... you used to live in Konoha, right?" he inquired, already knowing her answer. He knew who she was alright.

She had pretty, shiny pink hair and pretty, sparkling green eyes. She was his first love... err well, what he proclaimed was his first love, even if they only met once not counting this encounter. No one could easily forget her vibrant locks. She frowned at him, "Yeah... but, I don't remembering meeting a blonde boy..." But then her eyes widened. "You're that kid with the marks on his face!"

He nodded, for once he was proud of those lines. "And you're the girl with the pink hair," he pointed out.

"Ah, yeah... You're the one..." She looked a bit hesitant to say her next words. "... th-that said you loved me, right?"

"Yup!" he answered cheerily.

"Did I even know you that time?"

"Nope!" he answered in the same manner as before.

She crossed his arms. "O... kay. Did you even know me?"

"Not at all!"

"... You're weird," she commented. But the amusement in her eyes made him know that it wasn't an insult. "So um... since we haven't officially met," she held out her hand, "I'm Haruno Sakura."

He shook hands with her, a grin still on his face. "The name's Uzumaki Naruto! I'm surprised you still remembered my confession."

She laughed and looked at anything besides his eyes. "I thought about it a lot when it happened, never gave myself a chance to forget. But," she faced him with a large grin, "if I hadn't remembered, then we wouldn't be talking right now!"

It was the start a beautiful friendship.

"I still love you, y'know."

Sakura's eyes went wide.

"You really filled out in the right places!"

Naruto was met with a punch to the face.

A beautiful friendship indeed.

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><p><strong>Confession #3<strong>

"Naruto and Sakura sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes punches, then comes kicks, then comes some crazy se-"

"Shut up. I learn things from books." Sakura pointed her chopsticks at him. "I know how to castrate people. And I do not like you."

The other three seated at the table sweat dropped. "S-Sakura-chan is right, you should stop t-teasing them, Kiba-kun," the girl beside Sakura said, trying to get rid of the violent atmosphere.

Kiba huffed and crossed his arms. "You're always on her side, Hinata!" He placed an arm around the guy next to him, "The girls are always supporting each other. We gotta show them the power of brotherhood!"

Naruto slurped the last of his ramen before facing him. "I have tried, brother. And I have failed many times," he said in a serious and deep tone of voice, "Besides, Sakura-chan always wins. You'll get used to it."

"Oh, so you just let yourself be her bitch-" The two girls across them glared at him. "-for the past years? I thought you guys were middle school friends!"

Sakura and Naruto faced each other then faced him. "We are," Naruto answered, "and now high school friends too. What's the problem?"

"Shouldn't you two be... oh I don't know, more _friendly_ to each other?" Kiba asked. "The only interactions I've seen between you two so far was her beating the heck out of you," he said, recalling the first day of high school. Right now it was only the second day, Naruto making quick friends with the fellow loudmouth and Sakura finding she shared many interests with her quiet seatmate, which led to them sitting next to each other for lunch.

"That's Sakura-chan's way of expressing her love for me!" Naruto responded with a cheeky grin. Sakura rolled her eyes at the answer. "You see, I love her." Kiba and Hinata both got shocked at how he so easily confessed, right in front of her when- "She just doesn't know how to answer to someone as manly and awesome as me, so she vents out her frustration on me. You see, she hits me a lot so she has an excuse to _touch _me-"

Food was thrown to his face.

Sakura glared at him. "Shut up, Naruto. I love you too, but I will not hesitate to castrate you along with dog boy over here."

She said she loved him back... but why did it sound so different and wrong?

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><p><strong>Confession #4<strong>

"Did you hear of the new kid in 1-B? He is absolutely _gorgeous_! My friend back in my home town was looking for a cute boyfriend." Sakura gushed to her female friend.

Hinata laughed nervously, not certain how to handle a matchmaker Sakura. "A-Ah yeah... I think his name was Uchiha?"

"Uchiha Sasuke!" she proclaimed with pride at knowing his full name.

"That bastard? He's a total loser!" Naruto remarked, overhearing the name.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at me. "Get back to your seat. Hinata and I are having girl talk, you wouldn't be able to comprehend what our conversation would contain."

He grinned at her. She frowned. And Hinata was thoroughly confused at their small interaction of facial expressions. When one was happy, the other was sad? "I know the guy. He's my neighbor," he baited.

And she took the bait. "What? Really?" she said with excitement. Hinata looked away with a glum expression, understanding their brief exchange earlier. Seems their relationship wasn't as complicated as she thought. "Do you know if he has a girlfriend already?"

Naruto stared at her for a while. "I love you," he blurted out.

Hinata's eyes widened, well aware why he suddenly said that. Perhaps jealousy was bubbling within him, he didn't want Sakura to be interested in a guy that wasn't him. Sure it wasn't exactly a romantic setup, but the situation needed a dire solution. And well, she really wasn't interesting in the new guy, but the blonde boy didn't know that. Hinata glanced at her seatmate, expecting either a look of shock, embarrassment, or equal longing.

Sakura merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Love you too. So, is Sasuke-kun taken or not?"

Hinata placed her hand to her face. Their relationship was too odd for her to understand- But then her eyes saw the flicker of dejection on Naruto's blue ones.

A smile formed on her face. Perhaps there was hope after all.

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><p><strong>Confession #5<strong>

"Okay, Naruto, don't screw up!" Kiba whispered to him. "She's alone, cold, wet, and in need of a knight shining in armor! Go mark your territory and claim her!"

Hinata laughed nervously at Kiba's choice of words. "Just... do your best, N-Naruto-kun," she encouraged, handing him an umbrella.

Naruto accepted it gratefully and smiled at his two new friends. "You guys are awesome." Kiba responded affirmatively and Hinata smiled and pushed him gently towards the girl that was out in the rain. Naruto walked up to her and held the umbrella over themselves, smiling down at her.

Sakura looked up, shocked at the sudden dryness, before she put her bag that was used as an umbrella down and faced her savior. She smiled at him. "Thanks, Naruto. But, what're you doing here anyway? You never go to this part of town. It's where all the libraries and museums are," she said, her voice laden with suspicion.

His response was automatic. "Because you're here!" Kiba and Hinata faced each other, impressed at his answer. "So... Sakura-chan?" he started.

"Hm?"

Naruto gulped and looked to his left, away from her. The past times he confessed was done out of the blue and in totally random scenarios, which would probably explain her responses. But this time, the setting was actually a bit romantic, even if it was totally set up. "We've been friends since middle school..." She nodded for him to continue. "And I guess even before that, if you remember when we were kids." A smile appeared on her face at the faint memory. "And... my feelings haven't changed."

He grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers.

"I like you, Sakura-chan. I really, really like you," he said in a low voice.

Kiba and Hinata were trying their best to contain their excitement, finally the two best friends would become lov-

Sakura laughed and let go of his hand to punch him playfully on the shoulder, causing him to wince a bit. "I like you too, idiot. We wouldn't be friends if I didn't!" she told him.

Kiba growled and Hinata face palmed.

"That and..." Sakura moved the umbrella a bit to the side and looked up at the rooftop. "_Why _is it raining if there isn't a cloud in the sky. Wait is that... Akamaru?" Atop the rooftop was a dog sitting right next to a couple of watering cans that were constantly refilled and were tilted downwards, spraying it's contents across the entire block where the two stood. "Where the hell is Kiba?" she asked with clenched fists.

Kiba and Hinata slunk lower into their hiding place, hoping they wouldn't be seen.

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><p><strong>Confession #6<strong>

"You gotta be blunt and direct!" Kiba told him. "Don't say like anymore, say you're in love with her! That you'll die for her and all that mushy stuff girls like hearing!"

Naruto nodded seriously, taking down a couple notes at Kiba's lecture.

Hinata sighed and looked out the window. She was on the lookout for their "target". At first, she thought it was the blonde boy that was dense and oblivious to romantic matters, turns out it was the girl. But still... it was suspicious in her eyes. Sakura was not stupid or naive when it came to love, so why didn't she take Naruto's advances seriously? Was it because they were best friends? Maybe she never even thought of him in a romantic sense?

Her pearl eyes landed on her pink haired friend talking to a raven haired boy in front of the school gates. It seems they walked to school together... Hinata's eyes widened at the realization. It wasn't that Sakura was oblivious to Naruto's moves, it was that she didn't want to reject him! Maybe the only feelings she had with her best friend were purely platonic. She didn't consider his confessions to be serious, but she didn't want them to be.

Hinata glanced at Naruto in concern. Would he be able to handle a rejection?

"N-Naruto-kun?" He looked up from his notes and turned to face her. She pointed outside the window to the duo. Naruto walked over and looked to where she was pointing at. Kiba was still going on about romance scenes, unaware that his audience was no longer there.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Hinata's own widened in shock at the vicious scowl that appeared on his face.

But she did not at all expect him to do what he did next. Perhaps throw a tantrum, or give up on his confessing, or maybe confront Sasuke or Sakura in anger later. But not open up the window, lean outside, cup his mouth with his two hands, and yell, "Sakura-chan!"

From their view, the one-inch girl looked up at the sound of her name. She buried her face in her hands in annoyance and embarrassment once she saw the blonde boy.

"I love you!" he exclaimed. Most of the onlookers were either staring at him or looking for whoever he was shouting to.

Sakura sighed and faced Sasuke. "I don't know him."

"Get your hands off of her, teme!"

Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance. He wasn't surprised to see his childhood friend and current neighbor attend the same high school as him, but for him to be friends with the idiot's so called "true love"? The world was just too small for his mighty presence. He eyed the annoyed Sakura. "I'm not even touching you."

She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ignore him. I'll take care of the idiot later-"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

A tick appeared. "On second thought," she started, facing the blonde loud mouth. She raised up her hand to point at him, her glare vicious. "YOU'RE DEAD, UZUMAKI!" she exclaimed, running quickly into the building, but not without giving Sasuke a small wave and bowing in slight apology to the other students.

After only seconds, the door of their classroom burst open, revealing the girl with flushed cheeks and heaving chest. The other students witnessed the spectacle that occurred and were well aware what would happen next. The class president walked over to Hinata. "Should I call the school nurse over now?" he asked as Sakura stomped towards Naruto and held him by the collar of his shirt.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, please." She faced Kiba, who was cheering Naruto on, even though it was obvious the blonde would never put up a physical fight with his best friend. "Teach him some more tact, Kiba-kun."

Kiba saluted in response and wrote down something in Naruto's notebook. "These will work like a charm!" he exclaimed over Naruto's grunts of pain.

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><p><strong>Confession #7<strong>

"I love you, Sakura-chan!"

She laughed and patted him on the head. "I know, Naruto. I love you too," she said, pinching him on the cheek this time before she continued walking.

Naruto searched through his notes for something else to say to make her realize that he was being _serious _and his "love" was in a pure romantic sense, not at all platonic! "I'd die for you!" he exclaimed, hoping she knew how serious his confession was.

Sakura eyed him warily. "You wouldn't be much of a friend if you were buried underground."

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><p><strong>Confession #12<strong>

Naruto hugged her from behind. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

Sakura elbowed him in the gut.

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><p><strong>Confession #19<strong>

"I'm _in _love with you," Naruto said. Honestly, he had no idea how that single extra word would make a difference, but Hinata was persistent.

Sakura stared at him for a few seconds before she burst out laughing. "Right, of course, Naruto. I'm in love with you too. Now what was Sasuke-kun's number again?" she asked, bringing out her phone.

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><p><strong>Confession #24<strong>

"I want you. I need you. I love you."

"I want you to get out of my way. I need you to finish your homework and not copy Hinata's... And I love you too. Now hurry and do what I just said."

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><p><strong>Confession #32<strong>

"I want to kiss you."

"I just showered, so please don't."

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><p><strong>Confession #33<strong>

"I want to make love to you."

He was unconscious in two seconds flat.

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><p><strong>Confession #42<strong>

"I don't want you to talk with Sasuke anymore."

"... Oh god, Naruto. Please don't tell me, you actually, seriously like..."

A flicker of hope appeared in his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun? Don't worry, I accept your sexuality."

And it flickered out.

"Wh-What? No! That's not it!"

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><p><strong>Confession #44<strong>

"Damn it, Sakura-chan! I _love _you!"

"Calm down and breath. I love you too, so don't damn our love, idiot."

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><p>Kiba looked down at the notebook. "We've officially run out of ideas."<p>

Naruto just leaned back on his chair, unsure of what to say. He was stubborn, he never gave up... but what could he do now?

Hinata let out a sigh of exasperation. "Naruto-kun... I think you should go and kiss her already."

"What? I can't do that! I can't just lean in and kiss her without her permission!" he told her. "It'll ruin our friendship if she doesn't like me at all!"

"But you've been confessing to her the last few months, wouldn't that ruin your friendship... if she actually took your seriously?" Kiba asked.

He had no idea why he kept confessing either. He got the "I love you too" he wanted to hear on numerous occasions but... Naruto groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I should stop."

"You're giving up?" the two others chorused.

"No, I would never give up on Sakura-chan!" he told them with a reassuring grin. "I'll just stop confessing to her for a while, let's continue this some other time."

Kiba nodded, agreeing with the idea. "Yeah, try confessing to her again next school year. She might actually take you more seriously if you're older."

He decided not to comment that his first confession was years ago, and even up to now he wasn't taken seriously.

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><p>The two were walking home together, like usual. But Naruto could feel his companion's penetrating stare on him. He glanced at her sheepishly, "Did I do something wrong?"<p>

Sakura frowned at him. "This is usually the time where you start saying you love me or other nonsense."

He laughed, "Sorry, Sakura-chan... can't think of what to say now!"

Her frown only deepened as they continued walking. As they passed through the familiar street, a group of girls were on the other side, walking towards them. When the two groups were only a few feet away, the girl on one side winked at Naruto. His eyes widened, not at the flirtatious gesture, but at the feel of Sakura's hand covering his, her fingers intertwining with his own. He looked down at her and saw that she was glaring at the girl.

When the two groups finally passed each other, Sakura let go of his hand.

If Naruto was dumbstruck... he really didn't do well in hiding it. "S-Sakura-chan?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You think I'm just going to let another girl flirt with you?"

"But why?" he asked, still shocked. It's not like they were _together_- His eyes widened... _No way..._

Sakura hooked her arm with his. It was something she did even back in middle school, but the contact still shocked him, especially given the situation right now. "I _thought _we were already a couple. Seeing as how you keep confessing to me. And I know some of my responses weren't exactly positive, but a good amount of my answers were 'I love you too', right? So... you were joking with all those confessions?" she said in a light tone, but he was her best friend, he could hear the slight hesitation in her voice.

"No! Of course not!" he quickly assured her.

Sakura frowned at him. "Don't tell me you didn't take my answers seriously."

He thought it was _she _who didn't take any of his confessions seriously.

"If that's the case," she said with a grin, "allow me to confess first to you now."

_Confession #2_

"I love you, Naruto. Now stop acting all dense and naive and kiss me already."

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><p><em>Confession #1<em>

It wasn't love at first sight.

More along the lines of love after many thoughts. Ever since he confessed to her... or well, said he loved her, he wouldn't get out of her mind. She honestly wasn't sure if he was being serious, but he didn't laugh or tease her after he said those words. For the past week he's been all she thought about. What was he like? What did he like? What did he not like? _Who was he?_

It was the first time she ever met a boy with those marks on his face. She's met blondes and blue-eyed people, kinda like her best friend, but never someone with whisker-like lines on their cheeks. It was the constant thing she focused on whenever she tried visualizing him. It was the first thing her eyes landed on, before she looked into those blue eyes of his. They weren't as light as her friend's, but they seemed to glow. And the words he said to her...

Before she knew it, she started liking the mere thought of the boy, even without knowing him. He didn't cross her mind many times, because he never really left the first time. She didn't know if it was love, infatuation, or just someone she found interesting.

But the more she thought of him, the more she warmed up to those thoughts.

She stood there in the very spot she met him.

"I love you too," she whispered.

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><p><strong>AN: **That last part was a flashback, in case you didn't know. It explains why the first Sakura confession you see is number two, and the last is number one. The **bold confessions **were Naruto's, the _italizied _ones were Sakura's... well, actually the very last confession was more of a response... but... well... _details_; Who needs 'em?


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